Just in time for a planetary parade

I wish I could tell you how the Perseid meteor shower went, but, since I am writing this well in advance of the event we will just have to wait until next week.

Starting this week we are just in time to watch a planet parade. Mercury will start a brief two-week visit to the evening skies this week, joining Saturn, Venus and Mars as evening objects. These are all extremely low in the west after sunset, however, and might be tough to see.

Jupiter is also an evening planet but it is hanging out all by itself as a bright beacon in the southeast after sunset.

On Friday, Aug. 15, Saturn and Mercury make a nice triangle with Venus in the early evening sky just after sunset. The trio, only a little more than two degrees across, should fit nicely inside the field of view of your binoculars.

Venus, by far the brightest of the three, will be to the upper left of the other two planets and will be easy to spot even in the bright glow of the setting sun. Binoculars will be essential for locating the dimmer two planets. Just be careful with binoculars if the sun is still in the sky.

After this meeting the sun's glow catches up with Saturn leaving Mercury and Venus to continue on and up eastward toward a Sept. 10 meeting with Mars.

Viewing the faint fuzzies with binoculars and telescopes in the southern Milky Way in Sagittarius and Scorpius will still be good in the early evening -- at least until the full moon on Saturday. Then, viewing of almost any kind will be pretty much wiped out.

The Big Dipper is standing with its handle sticking straight up in the air these evenings. Use the two pointer stars, the two outside stars of the cup, to make a line for Polaris, the North Star, and follow the arc in the handle to locate bright Arcturus in Bootes and follow the arc further to brighter Spica in Virgo. Spica sets not long after dakness falls, so look early.

In the east, the Summer Triangle asterism reaches its peak in the early evening with Deneb, the tail star in Cygnus, the Swan on the left, Vega in Lyra higher in the middle, and Altair in Aquila on the right.

By 9 p.m., Pegasus clears the eastern horizon with accompanying Andromeda.

The latter features one of my old friends, the Andromeda Galaxy which, as you heard last week, we will be getting up close and personal -- in a few billion years.

If you are up at between 4:30 and 5 a.m. and are outside, look to the east.

Yep, that is Orion, Taurus and Gemini, the premier constellations of winter, getting ready for their turn on stage. My, where does the time go?

SKY WATCH: Mercury and Saturn conjunction Friday, full moon Saturday.

NEXT TIME: More astronomical blathering.